‘Justice served,’ but investigation continues

June 24, 2012

Jerry Sandusky's conviction Friday night on 45 counts of child sexual abuse may be just a beginning rather than an end to one of the most dramatic criminal episodes in Pennsylvania history.

Sandusky must be sentenced and his attorneys, Joe Amendola and Karl Rominger, promise there will be appeals to his conviction and sentence.

Two Penn State officials arrested in connection with the case, former athletic director Timothy Curley and retired Penn State finance director Gary Schultz, will be going to trial this fall.

They have been charged with failure to report child abuse and lying to a grand jury.

The charges stem from an alleged report to them by former Penn State assistant coach Mike McQueary, who testified he witnessed Sandusky committing a serious sexual act against a boy he estimated to be only 10 to 12 years old.

And, according to Blair County attorney Robert Donaldson, it is likely even more Sandusky victims will come forward. Donaldson has been acting as a legal analyst for the Mirror during the Sandusky trial.

Attorney General Linda Kelly, speaking to a sometimes restive crowd numbering hundreds of local residents outside the Centre County Courthouse late Friday night, said the investigation into the Sandusky affair is "ongoing."

In fact, investigators and agents for the AG's office having been making this point for several months.

And in the last few days of the trial that attracted worldwide attention, it became known that Sandusky's adopted son Matt on June 14 had approached the lead attorney for the prosecution, Joseph McGettigan III, as he was about to close the his case against Sandusky.

Matt, reports stated, unbeknownst to his family, said that Sandusky had abused him and offered to testify for the prosecution.

Amendola, after the verdict was returned, explained how that scenario led to the defense decision to not put the retired Penn State coach on the witness stand.

Also this past week another accuser, Travis Weaver interviewed on NBC's "Rock Center," outlined a pattern of abuse by Sandusky that seemed consistent with that suffered by the eight young men who testified during the two-week trial.

The Attorney General will have to make a decision how to address the alleged additional victims, not only Matt Sandusky and Weaver, but also others who may decide to come forward.

Kelly in her address Friday encouraged Sandusky victims and other alleged victims to talk about the abuse they have suffered in their young lives.

She talked of the bravery shown by the those who came forward.

Kelly called Sandusky "a serial child predator" and thanked the victims for their testimony, finally concluding that the former coach "has been held accountable for his crimes."

Another aspect of the Sandusky case also must be played out, according to Donaldson.

Sandusky has been ordered to undergo a Megan's Law assessment before sentencing.

Child sexual abuse has been an issue that has come into the light bit-by-bit during the past two decades, and the Sandusky trial was, Kelly said, a major step in that direction because of Sandusky's lengthy history of abuse.

"We have to shed bright light in those dark, dark places where Jerry Sandusky existed," she said to the crowd gathered in front of the courthouse.

And then there are the appeals in the case.

"We will continue to pursue our appeals," Rominger said immediately after the trial.

The reaction to the verdict was intense.

Hundreds of mainly Bellefonte residents poured onto the courthouse grounds to cheer and applaud the verdicts returned by the jury of seven women and five men.

William Nash was among those local residents who journeyed to the courthouse steps.

He said he had been "loosely" following trial, and when news broke that a verdict had been reached, he decided it was better to be on the scene than to be watching the drama unfold on television.

"Justice is served," he said as he summed up his feeling about Sandusky's conviction.